because they are already at their bond limits as a result of the extensive construction in the area. Program officials have discussed methods of improving the contracting process, including the merits of a single construction contractor to do all remedial action work as opposed to the current procedure of competitive bidding each location. Also, an engineering firm under contract to the program will be contacting local contractors and assessing how construction might be expedited through changes in contracting procedures. LACK OF CONTROL OVER RELATED An additional area of concern adding to program uncertainties has been the tailings locations that do not come under the purview of the remedial action program because the tailings are not under or near structures. The Colorado Department of Health has identified over 2,300 such locations where any cleanup is now at the property owner's expense. Many of these are vacant lots or are in locations that someday may be developed. Although the Grand Junction building department has cooperated with the program in getting radiation surveys made before building permits are issued, the effort is not mandatory. gram officials told us in 1974 that an ordinance was under consideration to require such surveys since participation was voluntary; however, no such ordinance has yet been developed. A program official told us the requirement for radiation surveys under the building permit program can still be waived by the builder. Pro Program officials recently discovered that Grand Junction water department employees had removed tailings from around some sewer lines they were repairing and deposited them near the river or on private property. As a result, the program provided measuring instruments to the city and instructed city officials to measure radiation levels before such work is done in the future to preclude improper disposal. This problem could be significant in the future since tailings were used in many street and sidewalk projects. A representative of the Colorado Attorney General's Office told us that the Colorado Department of Health has the authority to develop regulations to make the building permit program mandatory. We were also told that the Department has the authority to require local governmental organizations to ascertain whether tailings are present prior to removing fill material to nonrepository locations, and to require these organizations to remedy situations where tailings have been inadvertently moved to improper locations. CONCLUSIONS The Grand Junction remedial action program started in 1972 with the basic objective of cleaning up tailings-contaminated locations where a potential health hazard existed. In 6 years only half of the project is finished and significant problems exist that may prevent the rest from being completed in an effective and economical manner. RECOMMENDATION TO THE We believe that DOE should give renewed attention to seeing that the cleanup program is aggressively carried out. Further, we recommend that the Secretary of Energy report to the Congress on the actions he is taking to --contact those property owners where measurements are incomplete and encourage them to apply for assistance; --obtain additional contractors and expedite the contracting process to complete the remedial action work in a timely manner; and --assess the significance of the tailings locations not under the purview of the current program and take actions, if necessary, to assure that these tailings are not dispersed. This report could be included in the report DOE must submit to the Congress under Public Law 95-236 by February 1979. APPENDIX I APPENDIX I THE PROPOSED RESIDUAL RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS ACT OF 1978 (H.R. 12535) To authorize the Secretary of Energy to enter into cooperative arrangements to contain and to reduce potential radiation exposure from residual radioactive materials, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Residual Radioactive Materials Act of 1978". SEC. 2. The Congress recognizes and assumes the compassionate responsibility of the United States to provide financial assistance to the States of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and any other State determined to be in a similar situation by the Secretary of Energy for the purpose of limiting the exposure of the public to radiation emanating from residual radioactive materials, as hereinafter defined, from former uranium ore processing sites situated in such States. SEC. 3. As used in this Act: (a) the term "processing site" shall mean a site on which uranium ore was processed but shall not include a site; (i) where no uranium was produced for sale under contract to the United States Government; APPENDIX I APPENDIX I (ii) where the site was owned on January 1, 1978 by the United States Government or any agency or (iii) where a license issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Atomic Energy Commission or by a State under Section 274 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, was in effect on or is issued after January 1, 1978, for the production of a uranium product derived from ores other than residual radioactive materials, as hereinafter defined; (b) the term "residual radioactive materials" shall include the accumulated tailings resulting from processing. of ores for extraction of uranium and other valuable constituents, and also other radioactive materials such as residual stock of unprocessed ores or low grade materials, and ground in the vicinity of the mill or processing site which has become contaminated with radionuclides, including radium-226, derived from the site; (c) the term "Secretary" shall mean the Secretary of Energy. SEC. 4. The Secretary is hereby authorized and directed to enter into cooperative arrangements with any State identified in or pursuant to Section 2 of this Act APPENDIX I APPENDIX I under which the Secretary will provide not in excess of 75 per centum of the costs of joint Federal/State programs to assess radiation levels and to perform appropriate remedial action to limit exposure of individuals to radiation emanating from residual radioactive materials. SEC. 5. Each cooperative arrangement referred to in Section 4 of this Act shall include, but not be limited to, terms which provide that: (a) the selection of appropriate remedial action shall be determined by the Secretary upon consultation with the State, the Environmental Protection Agency, and others, as appropriate and shall be submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for review and concurrence; (b) the Secretary may determine that, for some sites, the appropriate remedial action is to move the residual radioactive materials to a more suitable location for longterm stabilization or other disposition. Unless otherwise determined by the Secretary, State ownership of the residual radioactive materials and the land upon which those materials are originally located must be accomplished before a remedial action is undertaken involving the removal of tailings from an existing site. The requirement for State ownership shall not apply to lands in the general vicinity of the processing site which may require decontamination activities as a result of incidental spread of radioactive substances, or to |